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Posted on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 04:45 PM by
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While attending the 2012 International Franchise Association convention in Orlando this week, I could not help but note that the more things change the more they stay the same. It was about 25 years ago that I attended my first IFA convention in Maui. While enjoying an ocean front room, the agenda was light on content but heavy on relaxation. I would venture to say that the number of workshops held during one day at this year's event exceeded all of the workshops in Maui and the roundtable discussions were far and few between. In those days franchisees were not IFA members and private equity was in its infancy as the country had just entered the leveraged buyout and junk bond era. At this year's event, I was on assignment for Blue MauMau My objective was to capture the flavor of the convention, renew acquaintances and conductobjectives were to capture the flavor of the convention, renew acquaintances and conduct an interview. There were so many concurrent workshops there that I found myself sampling them in order to observe the number of attendees and the presentations. I must admit, this approach wouldn't qualify me as a keen evaluator of the workshops I had attended. However, I would note that all but one were panel discussions flavored with personal anecdotes. When it came to workshop content, social media was the topic du jour. I was struck by what I didn't see on the convention agenda. If this year's agenda is any indication, it appears that more can be done to improve franchisor and franchisee relations. Having served on the IFA Franchise Relations Committee, which published the first Franchise Relations Handbook over 25 years ago and having been a franchise executive and franchisee, I feel qualified to offer my unsolicited suggestions for improving the annual IFA Convention.
Given the importance of the IFA as a vehicle for fostering improved franchisor and franchisee relations, enhancing the content and format at the annual convention would be a positive step in the right direction. MORE NEWS FROM BLUEMAUMAUFranchisors are from Mars and Franchisees are from VenusIn the wildly popular Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus book series, author John Gray explores the fundamental differences between genders’ perspectives and communication methods. While Gray hasn’t delved into the realm of franchising, there is little doubt that the vantage points of franchisor and franchisee are also distinctly different, which can lead to some, let’s say, interesting issues with communication between the two groups. Taxes and the DeficitNormally, this column is supposed to cover the tax changes over the prior year and how they impact the hospitality industry. Last year, we commented about how 2010 was an interesting year but little in the tax field had passed. 2010 was all about health care reform, the change in control of the House and the rise of the tea party. It was a very political and partisan year. If anything, 2011 was worse. Never has so little been accomplished by so many. Brinkmanship was the key word for 2011. It will be known more for what did not occur rather than what did. It is not unusual for partisan politics to take center stage in an election year. While 2011 was not, the race for the Presidency and control of the House and Senate began before all the winners from 2010 were known. National Press Writes about Restaurant FranchisingOn May 18th, the national press, both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, wrote about restaurant franchising. Some additional notes are warranted. Mediation: Good, Bad or It Depends?Mediation is often touted as the greatest thing since sliced bread for faster, fairer, and cheaper dispute resolution. Is it? Going International? Don’t Forget One Important ThingFranchisors that are considering exporting their franchise concept to other countries are advised to prepare by following a checklist of key items. However, there is one area that is often overlooked or shortchanged in the process. RELATED SMALL BUSINESS NEWSMobile Franchises: Do You Like Cars? Hot Franchise Topic: Getting a LoanIt seems like the entire franchise industry is focused on funding, and with good reason; franchise loans are still a bit challenging to secure. Going Green Costs Franchisees Much GreenBeing forced to buy imaginary products is just one of the nonsensical results of government policy affecting franchisors and franchisees. Good News, U.S. Hotel Profit RecoveryAccording to the new PKF Trends survey, the U.S. lodging industry produced a 12.7% profit growth in 2011. 80.5% of participating hotels enjoyed an increase in total revenue while 72.3% achieved growth in profits. The recently released 2012 edition of Trends presents data from a sample of nearly 7000 financial statements of United States hotels. For the Trends report, hotel profits are defined as net operating income (NOI) before deductions for capital reserves, rent, interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Federal Court Invalidates "Quickie" Union Election Rule, For NowOn May 14, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia set aside a controversial final rule of the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") that was designed to make it easier and faster for unions to hold organizing elections. Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. NLRB, Case No. 11-02262 (D.D.C. May 14, 2012). Business groups are hailing the decision, but the celebration may be short lived. Because the ruling was essentially decided on a procedural point, the NLRB may seek to resurrect the rule, which creates a very short window for union elections, and leaves employers with little time to react to an organized union campaign. |
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